Evaluation Paradoxes
Responding to Tensions Between Stability and Change in Social Investment Evaluation
Bibliographic Data
| ID | 12470980 |
|---|---|
| Authors | Kettil Nordesjö (0000-0003-3565-6563, Malmö University, corresponding author) |
| Year | 2023 |
| Volume | 45 |
| Issue | 4 |
| Pages | 519-535 |
| Publication date | 2023-07-24 |
| Open Access | Yes |
| Type | ARTICLE |
| Venue | American Journal of Evaluation (JOURNAL) |
| Journal identifiers | ISSN: 1098-2140 • E-ISSN: 1557-0878 |
| Publisher | SAGE Publishing (PUBLISHER • US) |
| DOI | 10.1177/10982140231185741 |
| OpenAlex | W4385241563 |
| Language | EN |
| Citations received | 1 |
| References cited | 38 |
The relationship between stability and change is a central paradox of administration that pervades all forms of organizing. Evaluation is not unfamiliar with paradoxical objectives and roles, which can result in tensions for evaluators and stakeholders. In this article, paradoxes between stability and change in the implementation of evaluation, and responses to them, are investigated through the case of social investment funds in Swedish local government. From interviews with staff, managers, and evaluators, findings show how responses to four main paradoxes give priority to top-down summative evaluation that produces instrumental knowledge on outcomes and costs for decision makers. The responses show that the concept of social investment fund evaluation is elastic to contain paradoxes and address different audiences. Also, paradoxes within the structure of the organization develop into paradoxes concerning the roles and goals of evaluation, raising the question of whether individual actors can deal with paradoxes
Administration (probate law · Economics · Epistemology · Formative assessment · Government (linguistics · Investment (military · Management · Pedagogy · Political science · Politics · Positive economics · Public relations · Sociology · Stability (learning theory · Summative assessment · Theory of change · Community Development and Social Impact · Computer Science · Evaluation and Performance Assessment · Law · Psychology · Public Policy and Administration Research · Social Psychology
Toward a Theory of Paradox
Dialectic, contradiction, or double bind? Analyzing and theorizing employee reactions to organizational tension
Beyond Dualism
Evaluation practices and effects of indicator use—a literature review
Social Impact Measurement
Responding to competing strategic demands
Contradictions, Dialectics, and Paradoxes in Organizations
Thematic analysis.
Exploration and Exploitation in Organizational Learning
Dynamic persistence in UK policy making
Systems thinking, knowledge and action
A small wins framework to overcome the evaluation paradox of governing wicked problems
Understanding social impact assessment through Public Value Theory
The logics of performance management
The constitutive effects of social investment evaluation
Made in Sweden
Does Evaluation Build or Destroy Trust
Understanding evaluation practice within the context of social investment
Biopolitical power and paradoxes in evaluation research with transnational migrant youth
Responsive Evaluation and Performance Management
Choosing Evaluation Models
Paradoxes of Social Impact Bonds
Dilemmas in a general theory of planning
| Citations per year | 1 |
|---|---|
| Citation span | 2025 - 2025 (1) |
| Highly cited | No |